Cup competitions of course are meant to enjoy a few upsets, with
lower division teams beating their supposed betters. Below we list
all lower division teams ever to reach their domestic
Cup Finals - obviously starting from the moment a national first
division was formed (though for some countries more specific data
of the period before are also available). Data on first division
teams reaching the Cup Final in a season they were relegated are
also included. For three countries (England, France and Scotland)
data on league cup competitions are added, as all these three
competitions have provided UEFA Cup entrants in the past (as did
the shortlived Spanish League Cup, but no lower division clubs
or relegated teams ever reached its final).

Furthermore, remarkable records, such as a fifth division team reaching
a Cup Final, a second division team winning it two years in succession,
or finals between two lower level teams are presented in a separate
section on remarkable records.

Liechtenstein has no league of its own, and until recently Welsh Cup
Finals were played between the top Welsh sides competing in the English
league structure (as well as a few neighbouring English clubs). They
are discussed separately.

Notes:
1. lower division cup winners are indicated in bold face;
2. losing finalists from below the second division in italics;
3. if the Cup Winners also won the championship (thereby possibly enabling
the lower division team to qualify for the Cup Winners' Cup), this is
indicated by "ch.";
4. likewise, promotion (pr.) and relegation (rel.) are indicated;
5. if the level of the club is followed by a *, this indicates that the
actual level is not known, but that the level indicated is the highest
at which the club may have been active during the relevant season;
6. the indication (-) signifies that the club did not play in the national
league pyramid.

Belarus

2010/11 FK Homel (2, pr.) 2-0 Nyoman Hrodna (1)
Note: FK Homel started the 2010/11 cup competition as a second level club but
were promoted at the end of the 2010 league season and thus a first level
club by the time of the final.

Congo (Brazzaville)

Congo (Kinshasa)

2012 CS Don Bosco (2, pr.) 4-0 AS Veti Club de Matadi (2)
2013 FC MK Etanchéité (2, pr.) 1-0 AS Vutuka de Kikwit (2)
2015 FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo (1) 1-0 Katumbi Football Académie (2)
2016 FC Renaissance (2, pr.) 2-0 CS Don Bosco (1)
2017 AS Maniema Union (2, pr.) 1-1 FC St-Eloi Lupopo (1) [4-1 pen]
2018 AS Nyuki (2) 2-1 Jeunesse Sportive de Kinshasa (2)
Note: most top teams usually do not enter the cup competition; until 2011 the national league
was contested by the best teams from the respective provincial leagues in the previous
season, so a number of finals featured teams which had not qualified for the league
championship but theoretically could have done so. Both Renaissance (2016) and Maniema
Union (2017) owed their promotion to their cup win.

Equatorial Guinea

Estonia

2013/14 FC Levadia Tallinn (1, ch.) 4-0 FC Santos Tartu (4)
Note: FC Santos Tartu started the 2013/14 cup competition as a fourth level club
but were promoted at the end of the 2013 league season and thus a third
level club by the time of the final.

Kuwait

2002 Al-Kuwait SC (1) 1-0 Jahra (2)

Kyrgyzstan

2015 Abdish-Ata Kant (1) 4-2 Nashe Pivo Kant (2)

Latvia

2009/10 FK Jelgava (2, pr.) 1-1 Jurmala-VV (1) [aet, 6-5 pen]
Note: FK Jelgava started the cup tournament 2009 as a second level
club; however, by the time of the final (spring 2010), they had
meanwhile be promoted to the top level.

Lithuania

2008/09 Suduva Marijampole (1) 1-0 Tauras Taurage (2, pr.)
Note: Tauras Taurage started the cup tournament 2008 as a second level
club; however, by the time of the final (spring 2009), they had
meanwhile be promoted to the top level.

Russia

2003/04 Terek Groznyi (2) 1-0 Krylya Sovetov Samara (1)
2004/05 CSKA Moskva (1) 1-0 FK Khimki (2)
2009/10 Zenit Sankt-Peterburg (1) 1-0 Sibir Novosibirsk (2, pr.)
2010/11 CSKA Moskva (1) 2-1 Alania Vladikavkaz (1, rel.)
2017/18 FK Tosno (1, rel.) 2-1 Avangard Kursk (2)
Note: Sibir were promoted from the second level at the end of the 2009
league season, so were a top level club when playing the final
but started the cup competition one level below.
Alania started the 2010/11 cup competition at the top level but
were relegated at the end of the 2010 league seaon and thus were
a second level club when playing the final.

United Arab Emirates

United States

1999 Rochester Rhinos (-) 2-0 Columbus Crew (1)
2008 DC United (1) 2-1 Charleston Battery (-)
Note: Rochester Rhinos played in the A-League, a second level league from
which no promotion to Major League Soccer is possible;
Charleston Battery played in the USL First Division, a second level
league from which no promotion to Major League Soccer is possible.

Wales

1993/94 Barry Town (2, pr.) 2-1 Cardiff City (-)
1994/95 Wrexham (-) 2-1 Cardiff City (-)
2006/07 Carmarthen Town (1) 3-2 Afan Lido (2)
2011/12 The New Saints (1, ch.) 2-0 Cefn Druids (2)
Note: Cardiff City and Wrexham did (and do) not play in the Welsh league
structure. For more info on Welsh finals before the installation
of a national league, cf. the section on Liechtenstein and Wales.
League Cup
2015/16 The New Saints (1) 2-0 Denbigh Town (2)
2018/19 Cardiff Met. University (1) 2-0 Cambrian & Clydach Vale (2)

1958/59 Schwarz-Weiß Essen (2, pr.) 5-2 Borussia Neunkirchen (1)
1964/65 Borussia Dortmund (1) 2-0 Alemannia Aachen (2)
1967/68 1.FC Köln (1) 4-1 VfL Bochum (2) [aet]
1969/70 Offenbacher FC Kickers (2,pr) 2-1 1.FC Köln (1)
1982/83 1.FC Köln (1) 1-0 Fortuna Köln (2)
1986/87 Hamburger SV (1) 3-1 Stuttgarter Kickers (2)
Note: in 1958/59, clubs played in several regional leagues. The top level
consisted of 4 Oberligen and the Stadtliga Berlin. Schwarz-Weiß
Essen did not play in any of those, but in the 2. Liga West, at the
second level - by the time of the final (December 1959), they had
meanwhile been promoted to the Oberliga, however;
the 1969/70 cup tournament was concluded at the start of the 1970/71
season because of the preparation for the 1970 World Cup; by the time
of the final, Offenbacher Kickers had already started to play in the
1. Bundesliga but they had started the tournament while playing in the
second level Regionalliga Süd.
See also Germany.

They again won their domestic cup as a second division side in 2006, but
then combined this with promotion.

The only other teams known to have won their domestic cup twice as a second
division team are Cameroon's Olympic de Mvolyé, who did it in 1992 and 1994,
but were not promoted until the 1996 season, and Barrack Young Controllers II,
a reserve side, who did so twice (2012 and 2015)
in Liberia.

All clubs to reach the final on more than one occasion as a lower level team
[bold faced years indicate win]:

The Swedish Cup final in 1948 was the only European final without teams from either
the first or the second level; in Asia that record was emulated by the Sri Lanka
final in 2010 and in Africa by the Guinea Bissau final of 2013 and that of Mayotte 2015.

The 1991 Copa do Brasil had only one first division team (Grêmio FBPA) among
the semifinalists, and even they were relegated to the second level after the
season. None of the three second division teams (winners Criciúma EC and
losing semifinalists Coritiba FC and Clube do Remo) reached promotion, so all
four 1991 semifinalists played in the second division in 1992. Thanks to a
rather liberal promotion system that season (twelve teams going up), all four
managed to earn promotion to the 1993 first level.

The 2012 Coupe du Sénégal did not feature any top level clubs among its
semifinalists: three were from the second level (winners HLM, losing
finalists Renaissance de Dakar and losing semifinalists Port Autonome) and
one from the fourth (losing semifinalists Walidane de Thiès).

The lowest level club ever to reach a domestic cup final were Ruch II Chorzów
(the reserve team of Ruch Chorzów), who did that in 1992/93 in Poland, only
losing to first division GKS Katowice after extra time and a penalty shootout.
When they reached the final in 1992/93, they played at the fifth or sixth
level in the Polish league structure.

All Liechtenstein clubs (currently 7) play in the Swiss league pyramid.
None has ever played at the first Swiss level, apart from FC Vaduz who
played for one season (2008/09) in the Swiss Super League.

Wales did not have an own league until 1992; only from the 1995/96 season
onwards, Welsh clubs competing in the English league pyramid have been
excluded from the Welsh Cup (and therefore have no way into the European
club cups through that route anymore).

While all Welsh Cup finalists must be considered belonging to the top
level of Welsh clubs (as far as the finalists were Welsh in the first
place; nearby English clubs like Chester City, Crewe Alexandra, Hereford
United, Kidderminster Harriers, and Shrewsbury Town repeatedly played
the Welsh Cup final), a peculiar record is held by Merthyr Tydfil,
who won the 1986/87 edition while playing in the Southern League Midland
Division, corresponding to the 7th level in the English pyramid.

The lowest level club ever to play in the CWC was Merthyr Tydfil, who
played in the 1987/88 edition as a 7th level team (in the English pyramid),
losing by the odd goal in five to Atalanta (themselves a second division
club in Italy).

Bangor City played in 1985/86 as an English 6th level team, and reached
the 2nd round (after beating Norway's Frederikstad FK on away goals),
in which they lost to Atlético de Madrid.

In 1962/63 Bangor City played in the (English) Cheshire League (outside
of a structured league pyramid), and lost to Napoli only after a playoff.

In 1963/64 Borough United played in the Welsh Alliance League (the top
league for the northern part of Wales), and eliminated Maltese club
Sliema Wanderers before being eliminated by Slovan Bratislava in the
2nd round.

The only clubs to compete on more than one occasion in the CWC while at the
2nd domestic level:

In 2013/14 IL Hødd became the first Norwegian second level club to enter
the UEFA Cup and in 2014/15 they were followed by Tromsø IL, thus increasing
the total number of Norwegian second level clubs to play in Europe to eight.

Other countries to have been represented in the CWC by a lower level team
more than once (excepting Liechtenstein (8 times) and Wales (33) again):

The first second level teams to compete in the UEFA Cup were FC Rot-Weiß
Erfurt and Hallescher FC, who had both qualified in the former East German
league structure in 1990/91, but upon the start of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup
had been integrated into the (West) German 2nd level. Hallescher FC lost
in the first round to Torpedo Moskva, but Rot-Weiß Erfurt eliminated Dutch
team FC Groningen before losing to later winners Ajax, also from the Netherlands.

In 1994/95 Olympique de Marseille played in the UEFA Cup while a second
level club, but this was an aberration following their forced relegation
at the end of the 1993/94 season (in which they had finished second in
France) due to the bribery scandal surrounding their match versus Valenciennes
in 1992/93. They reached the second round, beating Olympiakos Piraeus but
losing to FC Sion.

With the demise of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1999/2000, it is now possible
for lower division teams to enter the UEFA Cup in a regular way. The first
teams to do so were Bray Wanderers and Beira Mar, who (respectively) won the
Irish and Portuguese Cup in 1999 while being relegated from the first division.
In addition, FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein (at the 3rd Swiss level) entered the
UEFA Cup.

Since then, FC Vaduz qualified each season for the UEFA Cup up to and including
the 2007/08 edition without gaining promotion to the top flight in Switzerland
(twice failing in promotion/relegation playoffs). They have never yet gone beyond
the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup, though they came close to the first round
proper in 2002/03, losing to Livingston from Scotland on a solitary away goal,
and with a potential tie-winning goal disallowed for being scored seconds after
the final whistle, and again in 2006/07, losing on an away goal to FC Basel
from the Swiss top flight. After a one-season stint (2008/09) in the Swiss top
level, they returned in the second Swiss division without interrupting their series
of UEFA Cup (now Europa League) entrances until 2012; in that year, USV Eschen/Mauren,
at the third Swiss league level, won the Liechtenstein cup and qualified for the
2012/13 Europa League (qualifying stage).

Ipswich Town were the first lower level team to enter the UEFA Cup
on a Fair Play entry in 2002/03, and became the first lower level
team to survive two ties in one UEFA Cup season. In their third tie
they bowed out against Slovan Liberec after a penalty shoot-out.

In 2004/05 a record number of eight lower level clubs entered the UEFA
Cup: Buducnost Banatski Dvor, Östers IF Växjö, FC Vaduz, FC Wil (all
eliminated in the second qualifying round),
La Berrichonne Châteauroux, Millwall, Terek Groznyi (all eliminated
in the first round)
and Alemannia Aachen, who set a new record for lower level clubs in
the UEFA
Cup by qualifying to the group stage (equivalent to the former
second round), progressing from there and falling
to AZ in the third round.

The 2007/08 UEFA Cup saw the first ever tie between two lower level
clubs when BK Häcken met and defeated Dunfermline Athletic in the
second qualifying round. The second such tie occurred in the second
qualifying round in 2009/10 when FK Sevojno from the Serbian second
division eliminated FBK Kaunas, who had qualified as 2008 league
runners-up in Lithuania but had been demoted to the third level
ahead of the 2009 season. The third occurrence was in the 2014/15
first qualifying round (for the Europa League) between FC Santos
Tartu (playing at the third level but losing cup finalists to champions
Levadia Tallinn) and Tromsø IL, relegated from the Norwegian top flight
in 2013 but qualified on a Fair Play spot.

In 2010/11 Lausanne-Sport set a new record for lower level clubs
in the UEFA Cup by surviving three rounds in the rechristened
Europa League; that qualified them for the group stage (which
Alemannia Aachen had done before, but the Germans had only been
required to enter one knock-out round prior to the group stage)
where they were eliminated by CSKA Moskva and Sparta Praha.

In 2013/14 European debutants Estoril Praia became the first club to face
lower level opposition in successive rounds: they eliminated Hapoel Ramat-Gan
in their first tie (third qualifying round) and FC Pasching in their second
ever European fixture (first round). They thus emulated the corresponding
Cup Winners' Cup feats of compatriots Sporting (1973/74) and of Anderlecht (1975/76).
In the same season, Maribor became the first club to twice face second level
opponents in the Europa League group stage: Birmingham City in 2011/12 and
Wigan Athletic in 2013/14.

Apart from FC Vaduz (at the third Swiss level in 1999/00 and 2000/01
while entering the UEFA Cup) and USV Eschen/Mauren (at the fourth
Swiss level 2012/13 while entering the UEFA Cup), the only four clubs
ever to play in the UEFA Cup while competing at the third domestic
level were:

In 2008/09, FK Zemun (Serbia) would have joined this select group
(they lost the Serbian cup final against champions Partizan while
being relegated to the third level in 2007/08) but were refused a
license to enter the UEFA Cup.

The only clubs to compete on more than one occasion in the UEFA Cup
while at the 2nd domestic (or lower) level are FC Vaduz and
Hapoel Ramat-Gan:

FC Vaduz also entered in 2008/09 and 2014/15, but during those seasons they
played at the top Swiss level. In 2012/13 USV Eschen/Mauren entered as Liechtenstein
cup winners while at the fourth Swiss level.

Countries to have been represented in the UEFA Cup by a lower level team
more than once (excepting Liechtenstein (14 times, 13 by Vaduz and once
by Eschen/Mauren)):

While Randers Freja and Borac Banja Luka are the only teams (outside
of Wales and Liechtenstein) to have twice entered the Cup Winners'
Cup while at the second level domestically, and Hapoel Ramat-Gan
is the only club to have done so twice in the UEFA Cup, Bray Wanderers
are the only club to have entered both the Cup Winners' Cup and
the UEFA Cup once while playing at the 2nd level domestically.
Sadly, they did not reach the first round proper on either occasion:

At least twelve clubs reached the quarterfinals of African club cups tournaments
while playing in the second division domestically. One even won the Champions'
Cup! In the 1996 Cup Winners' Cup, three second division clubs qualified for
the quarterfinals! Algeria was represented by second division teams in all
the quarterfinals of all three competitions as well as in the Champions League
group stage.

Tokyo Verdy 1969 won the 2004/05 Emperor's Cup in Japan on New Year's Day
2005, when a top flight J-League team. However, during the 2005 season,
they were relegated to the second level J2 league. They nevertheless
entered the 2006 AFC Champions League along 2005 champions Gamba Osaka
by virtue of their cup win of 14 months ago. Their adventure in
Asia's prime competition as a second level team was restricted to
two matches, as two of their three group opponents
(Arema from Malang, Indonesia, and Tobacco Monopoly from Bangkok,
Thailand) were disqualified for late registration before the start
of the competition.

The 2009 AFC Cup saw two lower level teams entering the competition:
Suwaiq, who won the 2008 Sultan Qaboos Cup in Oman while in the second
division 2008/09, and Ha Noi ACB, who won the 2008 cup in Vietnam shortly
after being relegated from the top flight that season. In 2013, Al-Ahli (Taizz),
winners of the 2012 President Cup while relegated from the top level,
played in the group stage of the AFC Cup.

In Brazil, the national cup is used to determine some of its participants
to the South American club cups; three second level teams obtained access to
the Copa Libertadores that way. Additionally, regional cup tournaments
were used to select clubs for the Copa Conmebol, now discontinued; in total
six more Brazilian clubs played in the Copa Conmebol without playing at the
first level domestically. CSA, a third level team from Brazil reached the
Copa Conmebol 1999 final after beating São Raimundo,
who played at the same level.

Juventude represented Brazil in the Copa Libertadores 2000 as Cup winners,
having been relegated from the first level in 1999 (however, due to the
Brazilian federation being unable to organize a championship in 2000, a
substitute league under the name of Copa João Havelange was played, in
which Juventude played in the highest module).

In 2005, EC Santo André represented Brazil in the Copa
Libertadores
as a second level team, following their win of the domestic cup 2004,
and Paulista FC followed their example in the following season.

In Bolivia, 2010 Apertura champions Jorge Wilstermann were relegated
at the end of the Clausura that year and thus entered the Copa
Libertadores 2011 as a second level side.

Chile used a cup tournament between 1st and 2nd level teams to determine
the participants in the new Copa Sudamericana; in 2003, a team from the
second level, Provincial Osorno, reached the first round of the tournament,
where they were eliminated by compatriots Universidad Católica after a
penalty shoot-out.

By the time Goiás EC played the 2010 Copa Sudamericana final against
Independiente, which they lost on penalties, they had been relegated
to the 2nd level in Brazil. Likewise, 2013 finalists Ponte Preta had
been relegated to the 2nd level in Brazil by the time they lost the
final against Lanús. However, both had started the continental competition
as a first level team at the domestic level, unlike Estudiantes de Caracas,
who were relegated at the end of the 2016 season in which they had qualified
for the 2017 Copa Sudamericana as runners-up of the domestic cup competition,
and Santiago Wanderers, who were relegated at the end of the 2017 season
after qualifying for the 2018 Copa Libertadores as domestic cup winners.

Two lower level teams entered the preliminary round for the inaugural
CONCACAF Champions League 2008/09: the Puerto Rico Islanders and
Montréal Impact, both playing in the second level United Soccer
Leagues First Division. The USL comprises clubs from the United
States (predominantly), Canada,
Bermuda and
Puerto Rico. Montréal Impact
had qualified as Canadian representatives, Puerto Rico Islanders as
Puerto Rico representatives. As Montréal Impact eliminated Real
Estelí and Puerto Rico Islanders defeated Alajuelense in the
preliminary round, two nominal second division sides reached
the group stage. Both managed to finish second in their groups behind
Mexican teams and qualified for the quarterfinals, in which Puerto
Rico Ilanders eliminated Marathón to enter the semifinals, while
Montréal Impact lost by the odd goal in nine to Santos Laguna -
with Santos' last two goals coming deep into injury time. The
Islanders lost their semifinal against Cruz Azul on penalties.
In the 2007/08 Champions Cup, Puerto Rico
Islanders had already made the semifinals of the Caribbean
qualifying stage (whose winners made the 8-team tournament proper).
In the 2009/10 tournament, Puerto Rico Islanders again managed to
qualify for the group stage after eliminating Canadian MLS side
Toronto FC; there was however no repetition of the heroics in the
previous season as they were eliminated in the group stage with
a round of matches to spare.
In the 2010/11 tournament, the Islanders made it to the group
stage for the third successive season after winning the Caribbean
qualifying section and eliminating Los Angeles Galaxy, but failed
to progress to the quarterfinals after losing their final group
match 0-3 away to Olimpia.